Wildfires are a normal occurrence here in British Columbia, especially in the summer. But this year has been worse than usual. It’s been so hot, so dry, and I don’t even know when we’re getting rain again.

Even though I don’t watch the news on television anymore, I’ve been following the CBC on Twitter, mostly because I was tired of only seeing news from the United States. They’re so big and so screwed up, it’s easy to let their breaking news take over. It feels bigger because they shut out louder. But I need to know more about my own country, my own problems.

I live on the other side of the coastal mountains, next to the ocean, so the fires don’t affect me directly. I haven’t even noticed the smoke in the air. But the centre of my province is burning right now.